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ftortt wohW ien cancelling orders. Very quickly, manu
facturers would close down plants and lay off millions of
emvlovees. Volume vroduction would be a thins of the
past . . . and so, prices would rise fast.
Within a week most radio and television stations would
close up shop for lack of revenues. The ability of many
newspapers and magazines to perform their full, vital func
1 tions would be seriously impaired! And the cost per copy
i would zoom for those that tried to keep running only on
circulation revenue.
This alternative to advertising can hardly be the goal of
the critics of advertising. Without advertising our national
economy, our national life, would be bleak indeed. In many
jWajra, auvci using is me power piani 01 our suueiy.
.... .MORE CUSTOMERS FOR MORE PRODUCTS
American creative genius and wonderful ability for organi
zation have resulted in a tremendous flow of goods of all
kinds. This creates a crucial need for masses of people
anxious, willing and able to buy and consume these goods.
vjmy a :uueiy wiin a consianuy rising stanaara or living
can provide the customers. These customers have to be
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.scale of living. This is the job of advertising.
. . . Machines produce products. Advertising produces cus
tomers. As machines produce' more goods, advertising is
needed to supply more customers.
Suppose all our warehouses and stores become filled
with merchandise. What would happen if this merchandise
: remained on the shelves? There would be a glut. Every
thing would slow down. Sure, people would still have to
I buy the necessities of living-food, shelter, wearables, medi
cine. But that is hardly enough to keep a very small part of
our factories, railroads, trucks, planes, stores in operation.
Millions and millions of people would have to be laid off.
' Advertising not only gives people news about the new
products, but provides the urge for people to own and enjoy
these products. The wider and deeper the penetration of
our products into the life of America, the greater the need
for more production. This means more jobs. More jobs
mean more people able to enjoy what we make. More people
buying means more, still more production. And so on and
so on. The result is that more Americans can enjoy more
of the fruits of their labor than people in any country
anywhere in the world can enjoy theirs.
ADVERTISING LOWERS PRICES
Does advertising raise the cost of goods? On the contrary.
Through newspapers, television, magazines, radio and bill
boards, an advertiser can talk to a prospect for a tiny frac
tion of a cent. Advertising is the quickest and cheapest way
of reaching large numbers of people. It enables the adver
tiser to reach his market (customers) inexpensively and
thus increase his total production, thereby reducing the
cost of making and selling each unit.
; THE CULTURAL EFFECTS OF ADVERTISING
It's because of advertising that our mass media of com
munication can afford to command the finest talent from
all over the world and give to the American people informa
tion, stimulation and education which, in other countries,
are available to very few people. . . .
Advertising makes its cultural contribution in another
way. Advertising is in large measure responsible for better
living, less drudgery, more leisure for more people. This
creates opportunities for intellectual and spiritual activities
'equaled in few, if any, other countries. While millions and
millions of dollars are being spent by Americans for cars,
boats, sports equipment and the paraphernalia of leisure,
. there is a growing hunger for improvement of the mind and
for aesthetic enjoyment. '
WHAT ARE THE "NEEDS" OF PEOPLE?
Critics of advertising sometimes indict it for creating dis
satisfaction in people's minds with what they have, and
persuading and cajoling them into buying what they neither
need nor want. But what are "needs?" The "needs" of
people in undeveloped countries arc not the same as our
needs. Our needs of 50 years ago are not the same as they
are today. We don't actually "need" electric razors, electric
refrigerators, vacuum cleaners, television sets, shampoos,
beauty treatments, packaged goods, or even automobiles.
But would critics of advertising stop encouraging people to
want a better life? Would they have the millions of people
who create, produce, and market the so-called "non
essentials" thrown out of jobs? Do they want us to go back
to the more primitive living of other countries?
ADVERTISING PUBLIC SERVANT
Frequently, the advertising industry is called on to do direct
public-service jobs for the Government as well as for pri
vate public-service organizations. This it docs through the
Advertising Council, a non-profit organization supported
by American business and advertising media. Here's what
President Eisenhower said to the Advertising Council in
Washington several months ago :
"For eighteen years you have been stimulating the nation's
conscience in areas where the voluntary work of great
numbers of people has been necessary in order to promote
worthwhile causes. I know you have been in such fields as
conservation, organized charities, safety, prevention of acci
dents, and more recently in giving your efforts to the job
of pointing out to our people the need for self-discipline
if we are to avoid debasement of our currency and prevent
inflation.
"And I think no other body has done more In this
regard in trying to inform America across the board of
these things than has The Advertising Council."
friiUed in the interest of wider understanding of advertising, by '
MEDFORD MAIL TRIBUNE
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